The Last Painting of Sara de Vos is a 2016 novel by the Australian-American author Dominic Smith.
It was the winner of the 2017 Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction.
Contents
Synopsis
Sara de Vos, in 1631, was the first woman admitted as a master painter to the Guild of St. Luke's in Holland. Three hundred years after her death only one painting attributed to her remains. A young Australian painter is commissioned to paint a forgery of it and 50 years later discovers that the original and her forgery are to be both featured in an exhibition she is curating.
Critical reception
Reviewing the novel for Australian Book Review Kerryn Goldsworthy found that "this beautiful novel is a gift. Even the most minor walk-on characters are brought to life in a few strokes; the three main characters are all vivid and intriguing".
The Kirkus Reviews reviewer noted: "This is a beautiful, patient, and timeless book, one that builds upon centuries and shows how the smallest choices—like the chosen mix for yellow paint—can be the definitive markings of an entire life."
Awards
2017 Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction, winner
Publication history
After the novel's initial publication in 2016 in USA by Sarah Crichton Books, it was reprinted as follows:
Allen & Unwin, Australia, 2019
It was also translated into Dutch in 2016, German and Italian in 2017, and French and Polish in 2018.